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Saturday, 16 August 2014

Why is Raffles Medical Great? – A tale of personal experience!

I
am no stranger to hospital visits. I had personally gone through surgeries,
check-ups and follow-ups and even hospitalised for weeks before. Of course there are also more joyful visits such as newborn
experiences. While I am generally satisfied with Singapore above par hospital/ healthcare
services, I am most impressed by Raffles Hospital standing proud along North Bridge Road.

Raffles Medical Group Brief

Raffles
Hospital is the flagship business belonging to Raffles Medical Group (SGX: R01)“RMG”listed in SGX. This is the hospital that made news pioneering
surgeries separating Siamese twins. RMG started with two clinics in 1976
founded by Dr Loo Choon Yang and Dr Alfred Loh. Few years later, it was renamed
Raffles Medical adopting the name of two founders’ school, Raffles Institution.

The
company is a healthcare service provider with business segments mainly in
hospital services and healthcare services. The Hospital segment is exemplified
by flagship Raffles Hospital, which contributes 63% of total revenue. Healthcare
Services accounts for 34% of total revenue, comprise of 78 multi-disciplinary clinics in S’pore
and 4 medical centres in HongKong and Shanghai. This segment also includes
healthcare insurance and the development and distribution of nutritional
supplements, vitamins, and medical diagnostic equipment. Investment,
which is non-core, and consists of mainly investment properties accounts for 3%
of the total revenue.

My visits to Raffles Hospital

My
first visit to Raffles Hospital was early last year, when I accompanied an overseas
colleague there, after he was injured onboard an offshore vessel in Singapore. A
friend suggested Raffles Hospital. It is absolutely the right choice. The whole
experience from admission, consultation, x-rays to treatment, and eventually payment,
was so efficient and smooth sailing.

Months
later, the unfortunate victim is me! I met with an accident and had severe
lacerations around chin area. Without hesitation, I head straight to Raffles
Hospital again, attended by Dr/Prof Walter Tan of plastic surgery department. I
suffered twenty-stiches while wide awake in a more than hour-long surgery. Even
more punishing, are the post operation pain, permanent scarring and abstention from
solid food for a month or so – NO JOKE!

Aside
from the pain, I am pleased by the efficiency of the whole process, and first-rate
services rendered by hospital staffs from admin, nurses and my doctor. In my subsequent
follow ups, the excellent services remained. On one occasion, I drop an email
to my doctor and he responded promptly. It comes to me as a surprise despite
him being head of department with such busy schedules.

Impress
by the superior services Raffles Medical provided, I also scheduled my regular
dental checks there. This is despite the longer travel distance compare to neighborhood
dentist. My dentist is Dr Adrian Goh. To me, he is the friendliest, most polite
and happiest doctor I ever come across. The scaling and polishing treatments
are also very professional without causing any hurt or even discomfort.

Subsequently,
the illness-prone Rolf developed sinus problem and led to few visits to the ENT
department. Again there were no surprises to the good services offered.

No Money-Sucker

Unlike
many other doctors I met/ heard, both Dr Tan and Goh are no money-suckers.

I
completed my scar treatment last month. In fact, I asked Dr Tan for more follow
ups and injections to soften the scar tissues, but the advice was let time heal
the scar, and not to spend unnecessary.

For
the dental treatment, it is bi-annual schedule. In my last visit, Dr Goh was
pleased with the upkeep of my oral cavity, and advised that I can re-visit him
on a yearly basis instead to save some money. I told him to stick with 6 months
appointment. Firstly, I love the after-feel of teeth shining; secondly, why would
I resist seeing regularly a doctor who is so jovial, courteous and yet professional.

Price
is reasonable within a hundred bucks for private hospital charges. What is even
more heartening was a ten percent off my total bill specially initiated by Dr Goh.

In
all my visits to Raffles Hospital, I never once have problems finding car parking
lots. Finding car park lots is not as easy as one may think in many other
hospitals. Moreover Raffles Hospital car park rates are very reasonable
comparing hospitals within core central region. See below.

Rolf’s Summary

Overall I am charmed by Raffles Hospital “book’s cover
and its contents”! The ambience and decorations of the hospital are soothing
and modern. Hospital staffs are friendly, courteous and seemingly happy –
Always! I also like the fact that there is also no appointment card needed. One week before every appointment, there will be advance SMS reminder followed by a physical telephone call days before. During many of my visits, I was remembered by appearance, without even
having to show my identification card for registration. Doctors there are professional
with high “EQ” and treat patient with respect, explaining every major procedure
in detail.

Peter Lynch
suggests that investor should keep alert for possibilities based on their own
experiences.

Seeing this truly great company and discovering its
excellent balance sheet later, I see no reason why I should not own the company
last year. The share price and earnings performance of the Raffles Medical are just as good as the healthcare services offered by the company.

Stay tune to my next post where I will cover more on the financial performance of the company. Examples of Two Typical Bills - ADDED after request from reader!This is upon request from a reader. Note that the bills may not be an accurate representation of the pricing. It varies depending on doctors, time and types of treatments etc. It is merely for information only here! Also I am in no way promoting the Raffles Medical Group since I am vested in it. I am just relating my own experiences and it may differ with different individuals.

Thanks. I am sure there are good Singaporean doctors around, although I had met “money sucker” & “don’t ask too much” doctors.

They quote high price and keep asking you to do all the different types of tests without wanting to explain to you why. Doctor’s service is bad, so are the nurses who are very not accommodating. They just want to convince you that it is necessary to do the test. How? by scaring you on the undesirable consequence, if you don’t. Instead, the good doctors explain to you why thoroughly.

Thanks. The more cool part is, bills were mostly financed by insurance and my company medical plan.

For the bills, you can refer to my updated post. I just attached two samples of dental/medical bills. For dental, I strongly recommend Doctor Adrian Goh. Note: I am in no way related to him.

Very briefly and general, I think my experience show that it is cheaper than Mount E or Gleneagles! But I think it depends. Sometimes they will charge cheaper in Consultation but higher in surgery or medicine.

More important for me is, I hate the small waiting area in Mount E or Gleneagles. And yes, the parking in Mount E is terrible. I also have appointments in SGH (private & public) wards before. The doctors are good but waiting time is longer (for public), and doctors spend lesser time explaining to patient, mainly because they have too many patients, I think. Price is of course reasonable.

If you have to pay out of your own pocket and do not want to wait too long, you can try SGH private ward. Just an opinion.

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Disclaimer

This blog and its contents contain the opinions and views of me. It is not a recommendation to purchase or sell the stocks of any of the companies or investments herein discussed. If a reader requires expert financial advice, a competent professional should be consulted. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information contained herein the blog and its contents. Other than being the shareholders of some of the stocks discussed herein at the time of writing, I am not in any way related to the company mentioned within the blog. I specifically disclaim any responsibility for any liability, loss, or risk, professional or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any contents of this blog.